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by water_bby



Category: Othello - Shakespeare
Genre: Canon-Typical Domestic Violence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22040935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_bby/pseuds/water_bby
Summary: Emilia intervenes when the General demands her lady’s handkerchief.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Thirteen





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**Author's Note:**

> Written for my Happy Ending square, Trope Bingo 13.

Emilia heard a crash through the barely open door of her lady’s chamber. She burst into the room, one hand wrapped around the dagger she had started wearing after her marriage to Iago. But the General was only screaming, and while her lady was cowering away from him, Desdemona showed no injuries. Emilia had feared the crash was violence upon her person.

Only now did she hear the words. The handkerchief, the one she’d given to her husband. The General was demanding why her lady had given it to the lieutenant.

Emilia had few illusions about her husband, but she had not expected him to provoke the General into such a rage at her lady. Caught between her places as Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s woman, Emilia paused only a moment, took a deep breath, and chose. Her lady was a gentle and loving soul, devoted to the General, and Iago had more than forfeited his right to her loyalty.

“General,” Emilia shouted in a pause as he drew breath and her lady sobbed. He turned to her, and she steeled herself to face him. “General, my lady did unknowingly drop her handkerchief, and I did give it my husband, at his request. Believe not what scheming Iago has told you about it, or my lady, or the lieutenant.”

The General stared at her, something like hope overcoming the rage and despair in his face. “Truly? You will swear this?”

Emilia glanced at her lady, whose face was also showing a growing hope, and drew herself to her full height, facing the General directly as any officer under his command. “Yes, General. I will swear this before any court you name.”

The General left, taking his anger to focus it on a more deserving target. Emilia stayed, concentrating on her lady. Desdemona had need of Emilia. As far as she was concerned, Iago could fend for himself now.


End file.
